Defending individual liberty against the tyranny of government.
Truth, justice and the American way: liberty without compromise.

Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life,liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place. - Frédéric Bastiat

Perry Eidelbus,Der Eidelblogger

Westchester,New York

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Daily Star Trek Quote Challenge, 8/1/2006

- What a blind, narrow view you have. What an arrogant man you are. What do you know of Cardassian history?

- I know that once you were a people, that you had a rich spiritual life...

- And what did peace and spirituality get us? People starved by the millions. Bodies went unburied. Disease was rampant. The suffering was unimaginable.

- Since the military took over, hundreds of thousands more have died...

- But we are feeding the people. We acquired territory during the wars. We developed new resources. We initiated a rebuilding program. We have mandated agricultural programs. That is what the military has done for Cardassia. Because of that, my daughter will never have to worry about going hungry.

- Her belly may be full, but her spirit will be empty.

I always liked this exchange. Cardassia survived by invading and plundering other star systems. The people prospered at the cost of their souls.

4 Comments:

Star Trek: The Next GenerationEpisode 237: "Chain of Command, Part II"

MADRED: What a blind, narrow view you have. What an arrogant man you are. What do you know of Cardassian history?

PICARD: I know that once you were a people, that you had a rich spiritual life...

MADRED: And what did peace and spirituality get us? People starved by the millions. Bodies went unburied. Disease was rampant. The suffering was unimaginable.

PICARD: Since the military took over, hundreds of thousands more have died...

MADRED: But we are feeding the people. We acquired territory during the wars. We developed new resources. We initiated a rebuilding program. We have mandated agricultural programs. That is what the military has done for Cardassia. Because of that, my daughter will never have to worry about going hungry.

PICARD: Her belly may be full, but her spirit will be empty.

-It is a good exchange. Did they ever say how long Cardassia had been a plundering economy? I have a difficult time believing that it could last for long before internal divisions and disruptions would tear it apart.

Dukat tried to impress Sisko in "Defiant" by claiming the Cardassian political-military system has "worked for over five centuries." Well, even Madred painted a picture of a glorious Cardassia with a rich artistic heritage. Such a civilization is not compatible at all with a planet dominated by the military and military endeavors (particularly mercantilism with conquered worlds).

Perhaps Cardassians really did find a way to be among the galaxy's greatest artisans, though under the military's thumb? If so, Dukat still forgot one little detail, just a tiny omission on his part. You know, the impoverished wreck of a civilization that Madred grew up in, which ended (sometime before his daughter was born) only when the military and CIA-equivalent took over Cardassian society.

By the same token, Mao's Great Leap Forward was a smashing success too...if you ignore possibly 70 million people starving to death.

It also depends on what you consider art. I remember the exchange between Garak and Bashir over great Cardassian literature where the work in question was considered a classic because of the main characters constant sacrafices to the state.

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"You are not to inquire how your trade may be increased, nor how you are to become a great and powerful people, but how your liberties can be secured; for liberty ought to be the direct end of your government."
- Patrick Henry, 1788